Georgetown alumni Alonzo Mourning and Patrick Ewing called last week's brawl between their alma mater's basketball team and the Bayi Rockets during an exhibition game in China "unfortunate."

"This was an opportunity for the university to get some global exposure, and this is not the image you want to portray," said Mourning, who joined Ewing on a conference call Tuesday to promote an upcoming Basketball without Borders trip to South Africa.

"But I don't know all the facts and how everything went down. You just hate to see things like that. Just hopefully the thought of it can diminish sooner than later because that's not what the university is about."

The brawl between the Hoyas and the Rockets was one of basketball's ugliest fights in recent years. Both benches cleared, and punches and chairs were thrown. The exhibition ended with the score tied 64-64.

The next day, Georgetown coach John Thompson III and two of his players met with Bayi's coach and two Rockets players to clear the air.

Mourning, a seven-time NBA all-star and now a Miami Heat executive, is a member of Georgetown's board of directors, alongside such luminaries as former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals.

"I speak for all of our board members and all of the representatives of the university, and that's not Georgetown and that's not the image we portray," Mourning said.

Georgetown always had a strong reputation academically, but the success of the Hoyas basketball team in the 1980s raised the university's profile nationally.

The Hoyas basketball team reached three NCAA Tournament finals in four seasons with Ewing as its starting center.

On Tuesday, Ewing called the brawl in China "unfortunate."

"You try to move past it," Ewing said.

The Hoyas completed their tour of China on Tuesday when they defeated Taiwan's national team 83-64 in Shanghai.